Bivouac starts at $66,000 as Street Boss moves to NSW

Bivouac was retired last week after a stellar racing career for Godolphin and having been ranked as the world's equal leading sprinter in 2020, it is no surprise that he starts out his career at Darley at that price point.

He joins his own sire, Exceed And Excel, who will stand his 18th season in Australia at $132,000 (inc GST), the highest fee of any of the 20 stallions on Darley's Australian roster.

Godolphin Australia's Managing Director, Vin Cox, said his team felt that Bivouac's introductory price was an accurate reflection of the standing in which he was held on the racetrack, and his potential as a stallion.

"He's obviously one of the elite sprinters in this country and would sit right on top of the new stallions going to stud this year and that’s how we have viewed him," Cox told TDN AusNZ.

"He is by an elite stallion himself and he's from a very good pedigree. You gauge the price in terms of interest and people showing their hands a little bit. We did go to market in selling breeding rights in him and they were hugely popular. We felt that we have hit the sweet spot with him in terms of price."

Bivouac's price puts him at the top end in terms of recent freshman stallions to begin their careers in Australia and tops Darley first-season shuttle sires Pinatubo (Ire) ($44,000 inc GST), Ghaiyyath (Ire) ($27,500 inc GST) and Earthlight (Ire) ($22,000 inc GST).

Cox said the profile of Bivouac in the Australian marketplace was the main difference between he and the trio of European Group 1 winners which will shuttle to Australia for the first time this year.

"It’s all about relevance to the market and the local horses are an easier sell than what a shuttle stallion is," he said. "It's also easier for the breeders when they go to market, when they sell their yearlings. Everyone in the domestic market knows these stallions and knows them well. Automatically they have that context, relevance and commercial appeal."

Boss on the move

The major surprise of the Darley roster is the move of Street Boss to Kelvinside in 2021, having spent 11 seasons shuttling to Darley's Northwood Park in Victoria.

"It was a conversation that we have had over a very long time," Cox said.

"The consideration around moving the horse, it’s not a decision we take lightly. Having said that, he's a horse that has got elite horses over a sustained period of time and has some seriously good 2-year-old crops over the last couple of years.

"A lot of those horses have been bred by Godolphin. We feel he's a horse that warrants a price lift and potentially a different mare base. Hence we've relocated him to New South Wales."

Street Boss has had a brilliant season with his progeny on the track in Australia, highlighted by Anamoe, who completed his 2-year-old campaign with an emphatic win in the Inglis Sires' at Randwick earlier this month.

As well as his Group 1 success, Anamoe also won the G2 Todman S. and the Listed Merson Cooper S., while he finished second in the G1 Golden Slipper S. and third in the G1 Blue Diamond S. to put forward considerable claims to be named Australia's Champion 2-Year-Old.

Street Boss also had Elite Street win the G1 Winterbottom S., in Perth late last year with further stakes successes from Arcaded and Street Life. He is enjoying his best-ever season in terms of progeny earnings in Australia, and that has flowed through to the yearling sales ring, where his latest crop has averaged a career-high $118,052 in 2021.

"The profile of mare that he has been getting over the past couple of seasons, off the back of a couple of strong racing crops is not insignificant. We have got faith that momentum will continue and with that momentum will be a substantial increase in interest in the horse in the marketplace," Cox said.

"Giving breeders in New South Wales a greater opportunity to breed to the horse, we think the combination will work well. That's our thinking."

The legendary Lonhro remains at his 2020 price of $66,000 (inc GST) in what also will be his 18th season at stud in Australia.

New addition Pinatubo had already been confirmed at $44,000 (inc GST), the same price as second-season shuttle stallion Too Darn Hot (GB), while the other son of Exceed And Excel on Darley's roster, Microphone, also remains at his 2020 price, $38,500 (inc GST).

Completing the Kelvinside roster are Epaulette, Astern and Harry Angel (Ire), who will all stand at $16,500 (inc GST), as well as Shooting To Win and Territories (Ire), who are both at $11,000 (inc GST).

Frosted's fee doubles

The Northwood Park roster in Victoria is headlined by Brazen Beau, who stands at the same fee as 2020, $49,500 (inc GST), while Frosted's (USA) price doubles to $44,000 (inc GST), with his first 2-year-olds enjoying a brilliant season.

The spectacular grey son of Tapit (USA) has had five winners from just 10 Australian runners to date, including Godolphin stakes winners Ingratiating and Cloudy.

"You couldn't have asked for a better start to a stallion's career. We are obviously very, very excited about the horse and everyone in the marketplace is recognising that. We are getting a lot of interest around him and rightly so," Cox said.

"He looks like a horse of considerable significance. The yearling market is certainly taken hold of him this year, and I imagine high-profile breeders will want to breed to the horse, he's a very exciting prospect for us."

Also at $44,000 (inc GST) is Blue Point (Ire), the multiple Group 1-winning son of Shamardal (USA) whose first crop of Southern Hemisphere foals will arrive this season.

While Street Boss heads to New South Wales, Kermadec (NZ), who had a breakthrough of his own this season with dual Group 1-winning filly Montefilia, heads to Victoria where he will stand at $11,000 (inc GST).

"He's a horse that fits the profile of Victoria very well. He's got a couple of nice horses coming through, one in particular that is trained in Victoria called Tuvalu. The Victorian market is probably more accepting of horses of Kermadec's profile," Cox said.

Cox said the other key reason for the switch of Street Boss and Kermadec on the roster is to ensure the right balance between the two states.

"We have our two high-profile proven horses in New South Wales in Exceed And Excel and Lonhro and we didn't have a proven horse in that mid-range bracket, whereas in Victoria, we are well catered for in that market. We felt we had to balance that out," he said.

Along with the abovementioned Ghaiyyath and Earthlight, the Northwood Park roster also includes Impending, who will stand at $22,000 (inc GST) after a strong reception to his first crop at the yearling sales this year, and Holler, who stands at $7700 (inc GST).

With such confidence back in the Australian thoroughbred industry, which appears to have weathered the worst of the COVID-19 impacts remarkably well, Cox said it was a very different environment to establish where Darley's stallions sat in the market than in 2020.

"The uncertainly of last year was quite scary. What has actually transpired since has been extraordinary. The racing has been wonderful and the sales in the first part of this year have been out of this world," he said.

"The combination of those two gives everyone a lot of confidence to go forward. We think across the board, we’ve got our horses priced at the right level and perhaps slightly modest. We want to see our breeders get good value and hopefully get well-rewarded along the line."

* All prices inclusive of GST